I Let A Thai Person Borrow Money From Me

[sprocket]

I let a Thai person (someone who I thought was a friend and could trust) borrow 7000 baht. I was supposed to be repayed several weeks ago. Is there anything I can do to get my money back? 7000 baht is not that much but I don't want to just let the person get away with stealing my money so easily.

[davethailand]

Ask for it back.

[Misplaced]

Friends, Family and Money does not mixed well.

I agree with Dave, go ask for it back.

[Totster]

Write it off... learn the lesson...

totster

Edited June 11, 2006 by Totster

[ilyushin]

Best advice from DT.

Have you asked yet?

Go ahead just do it!

[udon]

Ask for your money back in front of his friends....... in a nice way.

But make it clear (to his friends) how long you have waited.

[britmaveric]

Ask for it back, but if you never see it again, then let this be a lesson well learned for you.

[Wanraya]

If you lend someone money and never hear from them again it was probably worth it.

[Mighty Mouse]

Take a drinking cup from McDonalds, go sit on a busy sidewalk with the cup in front of you. Wear old clothes, put a sad look on your face and hope that your cup will soon runneth over with 7,000 baht.

It's about the only way you will get it.

[wamberal]

If you could afford to lend the money, your "friend" will assume that you can afford to lose it.

[mbkudu]

Yet another reason not to have friends.

[Galong]

Don't take it personally. Thais screw other Thais in this same manner. My Thai wife loaned a guy a few thousand baht after he had a bad road accident. It's been almost a decade and he hasn't given back one baht.

[Thaising]

Not all Thai are dishonest; we can’t bunch them all in one stick. Once in awhile, we have to learn a lesson the hard way.

[Kerryd]

I've loaned money to a few locals that live in my building. The woman that runs the laundry, the woman that runs the small shop/bar in the building, the landlady, the girl down the hall (all women in fact. I was warned against lending one of the guys money, as he had borrowed from others previously and never paid it back).

All of the women I've lent to have paid it back, usually with the (Thai) standard interest added. Some have borrowed 1,000 baht for a week. Others borrowed over 10,000 baht for a month.

I wouldn't do it for a stranger off the street, and there are a couple of people in my building that I would not be comfortable with lending to.

I would suggest waiting until you get into a conversation with the person you lent money to and some others. Then, sometime during the conversation, mention that you need some cash to do something specific (buy a piece of furniture, take a trip to the "home village", ect.) Then "remember" that you lent the person the money ("That reminds me Fred, what's up with the money I lent you (xxx) months ago ?") ("Oh yeah, Fred ? I need to ge that money back I lent you so I can send the wife home for a holiday").

You could do it in private as well. If you do it in front of others, he could lose face if it looks like he's the kind of person that doesn't pay his debts.

Or, as others have mentioned, write it off as a bad experience and remember it the next time someone wants to borrow from you.

[thai_time]

Take a pair of rusty pliers and pull 1 tooth out for every day that he doesn't pay you back. Once he has lost all his teeth, take a crowbar to his face.

[chanchao]

The amount might be too large to pay back in one go, meaning that you will never get it back all at once.

Go discuss how he/she expects to pay it back, what his/her income is, then settle on a repayment scheme, even if it's 600 baht a month for a year.

Cheers,

Chanchao

[Nam Kao]

When i am asked i reply "Sorry i dont have a work permit". It works wonders.

Never lend $$ to farangs either

[BangnaBound]

I have found, especially in a family situation, that the word ‘loan’ is just a face saving code word for ‘give’. I always ask for the decoded message before making loan decisions. That way, once I’ve ‘loaned’ the money, I don’t have to worry about getting it back, because I knew before hand that I wouldn’t. How many ‘bad loan’ situations are really just the result of a loss in translation?

[cmsally]

It really depends on the person you have lent to - there are some people I would never lend money too but there are lots of people to whom I have lent money to many times.

A good starting point is to agree on a payback deadline or monthly installments etc. at the time when you lend them the money.

If time is passing just remember with some people if you say nothing they assume you don't need the money.

If you do say something don't demand it on the spot give them at least a week to find the money.

If you resort to something stronger the best idea is to plead hardship - say your ATM card has been cancelled and you are really in dire straits. It seems to work, you aren't seen as someone with lots of ready cash demanding back payment from someone who is without. I know its lying but if someone looks as though they are cheating you, what's your choice.

One thing I wouldn't do is ask for it back in front of other people. It might just make them really angry at having lost face and never talk to you again. Never see your money again either!

[dave111223]

Take a pair of rusty pliers and pull 1 tooth out for every day that he doesn't pay you back. Once he has lost all his teeth, take a crowbar to his face.

[digitele]

Ask for it.

If not - an inexpensive lesson 7,000.00

Could be much worse, and that sucker won't be coming around looking for more. Use that as an example to others i.e. "I lent Somchai and he never paid me and now I'm broke etc. Milk it!

Or as some other posters have suggested - Have it collected!

Pay someone 50% of what they beat out of him.....NY sytle (Bangkok too)

[dave111223]

After some consideration i have come up with the best way to get your money back:

Follow these steps carefully:

Step 1) Go to your friends house/appartment just to say "hi"

Step 2) Invite yourself in and start a conversation

Step 3) Scope out the area and try to find something of 7,000 baht value which is portable

Step 4) Make up a reason that you need to borrow the item ("I'm have some people over this weekend, do you think i can borrow your rice cooker/TV/stove/DVD Player/etc...?")

At this point they know they *Must* lend you the item because you lent them the 7,000 baht. They also know at this point that they will not see the item again until they give back the 7,000 baht.

So they must choose whether they have the item or the money. There will be one of 2 outcomes:

1) They lend you the item and you never hear from them again. You sell the item and get your money.

2) They show up the next week to pick up the item, with your money in their hand.

Either way you get your money, without so much as mentioning it.

[TokyoT]

Take a pair of rusty pliers and pull 1 tooth out for every day that he doesn't pay you back. Once he has lost all his teeth, take a crowbar to his face.

You don’t happen to be a collection agent of Heng are you?

[GuestHouse]

Count your blessings you've learned an extremely valuable lesson and an unbelievably low price.

I've known expats with years of experience in Thailand suddenly learn this lesson on huge amounts of money.

Well done.

Now move on.

[lingling]

Never lend $$ to farangs either

Exactly. Both thais and farang expats seem to suffer from the same kind of amnesia when it comes to paying back loans.

[astral]

Ask for your money back in front of his friends....... in a nice way.

But make it clear (to his friends) how long you have waited.

Dangerous.

You are making the person loose face.

You may get a violent response, when you are not looking.

[jdinasia]

Write it off ... if you ever get paid back then you are lucky ....

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Billy Shakespeare said " Neither borrower nor lender be "

[toptuan]

After some consideration i have come up with the best way to get your money back:

Follow these steps carefully:

Step 1) Go to your friends house/appartment just to say "hi"

Step 2) Invite yourself in and start a conversation

Step 3) Scope out the area and try to find something of 7,000 baht value which is portable

Step 4) Make up a reason that you need to borrow the item ("I'm have some people over this weekend, do you think i can borrow your rice cooker/TV/stove/DVD Player/etc...?")

At this point they know they *Must* lend you the item because you lent them the 7,000 baht. They also know at this point that they will not see the item again until they give back the 7,000 baht.

So they must choose whether they have the item or the money. There will be one of 2 outcomes:

1) They lend you the item and you never hear from them again. You sell the item and get your money.

2) They show up the next week to pick up the item, with your money in their hand.

Either way you get your money, without so much as mentioning it.

Brilliant! No one loses face.

I've also tried, with success: "Guess what, Pornchai? Somkiet asked to borrow _______ baht from me, but I don't have it handy. If you pay me back, maybe we can both help him, in turn. What do you think?" They appear pretty hard-hearted if you're willing to help a Thai, but they aren't. If they don't have the money, then suggest the monthly payment scheme.

Lastly, there was another thread about this somewhere on TV.com. It was suggested, that if you lose money on a bad loan to a "friend" who stops coming around, just consider it a payoff to keep away a phony friend.

[Heng]

Take a pair of rusty pliers and pull 1 tooth out for every day that he doesn't pay you back. Once he has lost all his teeth, take a crowbar to his face.

You don’t happen to be a collection agent of Heng are you?

I don't use pliers or crowbars and have too much affection for my awesome tools set to have them damaged by bone or enamel. A friendly phone reminder is usually enough. Rarely have to raise my voice above 50 dB.